The five-month-old cat found himself stuck after doing some exploring.

The mischievous moggie wedged himself so tightly in a 3.5in tube outside his home in Hexham, Northumberland, that neighbour Lesley Galloway, who discovered the charcoal coloured kitten in distress, could not pull him free.

As Harry's owners, Robert and Sue Malby and daughter Jessica were out, Mrs Galloway took the stricken pet to the Orchard House Veterinary Centre.

Vet Tim Pearson said Harry's head was starting to swell and he was having difficulty breathing by the time he arrived at the surgery. He gave the kitten an emergency anaesthetic and split the pipe using a dentist's cutter.

Afterwards he said: "I have never seen anything like it. Usually cats are so careful where they stick their heads.

"Their whiskers warn them when a space is too narrow. It's mostly dogs and hedgehogs that end up in situations like this. Sometimes you get a cat that has got into problems trying to get some food from the bottom of a can, but not this."